With its acquisition last year of Pittsburgh-based CJ Systems, Air Methods (Booth No. 1043) has become the largest civil air ambulance provider in the country. Integrating CJ into Air Methods has proceeded smoothly, so far, said CEO Aaron Todd, but he admitted there are challenges ahead.
The combined company now operates a fleet of 350 aircraft, mostly helicopters, in 42 states. It owns an estimated 80 percent of these aircraft. (The remainder are owned by clients and operated by Denver-based Air Methods under service agreements.) The company is also an aggressive purchaser of new aircraft, with more than 138 helicopters on order over the next five years–38 of them scheduled for delivery this year. The majority of these will replace existing helicopters. These new aircraft orders represent a capital commitment of more than $500 million. While most of those orders are for Eurocopters, Air Methods is also the launch customer for the Bell 429 twin, scheduled for initial deliveries late this year.
